


i never liked sweets until you sugarcoated my teeth

by heartsforhao



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Panics, Pining, Texting, and then does nothing, iwachan has a penchant for swearing as he should, iwaizumi realizes he has feelings, iwaoi is the purest form of art on this planet, oikawa climbs through a window, oikawa is a thirty part text i will die on this hill, oikawa knows no fear only gay for best friend, oikawa tooru cried when he lost his first tooth u heard it here first, thats it thats the fic, the way they own that tag, unsafe tree-climbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:56:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29775825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsforhao/pseuds/heartsforhao
Summary: The Big Gay Revelation, as Iwaizumi calls it, comes to him in the middle of a calculus test.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, iwaizumi hajime/gay panic
Comments: 4
Kudos: 66





	i never liked sweets until you sugarcoated my teeth

**Author's Note:**

> hi hi this is a rewrite of my previously posted fic which is embarrassingly bad pls leave a comment if u like this version i crave validation <33 anyways be gay do crimes love u
> 
> title from addison grace's 'sugar rush'

All things considered, it hadn't taken Iwaizumi that long to realize that he might be in love with his best friend.

Growing up side by side, Iwaizumi had grown to begrudgingly appreciate the boy who had plastered himself to Iwaizumi's side on the first day of school and henceforth declared them "bee eff effs for life, my nee-san says that bee eff eff means best friends forever and I think that should be us, do you want to be my friend 'cause I want-"

Little Iwaizumi hadn't really put much stock into the idea of BFFs or whatever Oikawa's older sister had said, but he did know that he was at the very least intrigued by the funny boy from down the street whose sleeves fell just past his tiny fingertips and who loved waiting for the bus in the rain because he could play in puddles with his bright green rain boots.

They went through the early stages of life together.

The day after Oikawa had screamed bloody murder when one of his teeth fell out for the first time, Iwaizumi had strolled into their kindergarten classroom, huge grin on his face showcasing a brand-new gap. Then, after Iwaizumi had broken up with his first girlfriend at the tender age of nine, Oikawa had loudly declared at lunch the next week that he was no longer seeing a girl from their neighbouring school that no one actually believed was real but if Iwa-chan wasn't dating anymore then neither would Oikawa. Even at twelve, when Oikawa turned up to the Iwaizumi's furiously wiping away tears after he found out his parents were divorcing, Iwaizumi had offered up his house whenever the other boy needed and muttered that his mother was always going on about how "Tooru is essentially another son, he's around so often".

They had seen each other at their worst and best, but most importantly they always had each other.

Iwaizumi had honestly not given much thought to it when Oikawa had suddenly shot up during the summer transition from Kitagawa Daiichi to Aoba Josai, just smiled good-naturedly when Oikawa had sidled up to him and placed a ( _stupidly muscular, damn him_ ) arm on top of his head, feigning surprise when it didn't land on his shoulders as it used to. Truly, Iwaizumi loved Oikawa, but up until the end of their first year of high school it had been consciously and purely platonic.

The Big Gay Revelation, as Iwaizumi calls it, comes to him in the middle of a calculus test.

Iwaizumi, who hated calculus, had primarily resolved himself to a mediocre score just about twenty minutes into the period, and after answering the problems he understood, had shifted his attention to gazing around the room, careful of the watchful eye of their teacher.

It was almost summer vacation, the air had taken to a lighter breeze and the sun was almost constantly shining. The window was open, letting the fresh scent of the pre-season breeze waft in and ruffle some papers. Oikawa sat by the window, chewing on the tip of his pencil and leaning over his test.

 _Hey_ , Iwaizumi had thought as the breeze caught Oikawa's hair, _he's really pretty. Wait-_

Pretty earth-shattering moment.

Oikawa Tooru was pretty, that was a well-known fact. But Iwaizumi Hajime finding Oikawa Tooru pretty, despite having known him throughout his fondly dubbed "super-superwholock Tumblr extravaganza", now _that_ was something to write home about.

After that, Iwaizumi couldn't help but notice Oikawa.

Not in the way he had before, when he had observed his volleyball skills and laughed at his jokes and made sure he was taking care of himself. Sure, he did still do those things, but now instead of doing them nonchalantly, each action was punctuated by thoughts of _oh my god he touched my hand_ or _wow he smells really good, should I tell him? no that would be weird_ and most commonly, _holy fuck he is so pretty_.

As it turns out, Iwaizumi had about as much subtlety as a volcanic eruption. The rest of his team noticed his shift in behaviour, and as much as he denied it, Iwaizumi finally admitted to harbouring a crush on his stupid best friend during a team sleepover that Oikawa had conveniently been absent from due to, according to him, "the worst cold anyone has ever had ever oh my god Iwa-chan I'm dying". 

The only one in the dark after that seemed to be the boy in question himself. Iwaizumi was content with that, as long as it meant that he could keep his friend. He would rather pine after him forever than tell Oikawa and have it be unrequited, subsequently ruining their friendship. He could never lose Oikawa, so he ignored his obvious, according to Matsukawa and Hanamaki, feelings and settled with the title of Oikawa's best friend, which wasn't all that bad.

That being said, nothing really changed in the way they interacted, as Oikawa was basically clueless about the whole thing and Iwaizumi was determined to never let him find out. Oikawa was still as clingy as ever and remained blissfully ignorant to the inner turmoil Iwaizumi spiralled through every time Oikawa touched him.

During the middle of their last year as high school students, somewhere in between their bitter loss to Karasuno and their impending final exams, Hanamaki and Matsukawa had taken it upon themselves to set the pair up. 

According to them, Iwaizumi would die if he kept his feelings bottled up for so long. 

"Not gonna lie man, it was funny at first." Matsukawa had said one day at lunch while Oikawa was off in the bathroom. 

"Yeah I enjoyed seeing the many shades of Iwaizumi whenever Oikawa breathed near you, but now it's just sad seeing how desperately in love you are with no reciprocation." Hanamaki had added, and Iwaizumi had protested because who said anything about _love_? He was just harbouring a crush, that's all. 

"I don't know what you're suggesting I do?" Iwaizumi had huffed, peeling the lid off his bento. "I am perfectly happy just being his friend, I don't wanna mess up what we already have. Plus we graduate soon and this would just make things weird." 

"Oh my god, listen to yourself. Are you seriously planning on going your entire life hiding your massive heart boner for Oikawa from him?" Hanamaki groaned, slumping on the ground and covering his eyes as if just looking at Iwaizumi caused him pain. 

"Seriously, you'll never know unless you tell him. I know we can't force you to do anything, but hiding so many feelings can't be healthy dude." Matsukawa gently shoved Iwaizumi's shoulder and Iwaizumi sighed.

"I-" 

"I'm back ladies, did you miss me? I know Iwa-chan did." Oikawa announced his return to the group by making Iwaizumi choke on a piece of broccoli. "Oops, sorry. What are we talking about?"

Iwaizumi spit the piece back out and stared sullenly at the ground, Matsukawa and Hanamaki giving him twin glances, a mixture of exasperation and pity present on both their faces, before launching into a grand tale about catching two of their underclassman making out under the stairwell to the clubroom. 

After that particular conversation, Iwaizumi found himself in an increasingly alarming amount of suggestive situations with Oikawa courtesy of one Hanamaki Takahiro and one Matsukawa Issei. They stopped showing up to group hangouts, the only indication that they were alright an innocent ":) enjoy" text sent to their group chat. Hanamaki took it upon himself to compliment Iwaizumi at varying levels of intensity around Oikawa, the latter always laughing and simply agreeing while Iwaizumi fumed and blushed more than he thought ought to be healthy at his age. Matsukawa even went as far as to lightly suggest that the two acted so much like a couple so why weren't they dating again?

But nothing seemed to be getting the result the pair were after.

Apparently getting locked in the storage room with Iwaizumi on multiple occasions wasn't obvious enough, so they had stopped trying that after the first five times. Oikawa hadn't even suspected anything when they had written a cheesy confession letter and put it in his shoe locker, complete with the signature of Iwa.

"Maybe it's from Iwasaki-chan in my math class?" Oikawa had theorized over lunch, missing the face palm on behalf of Hanamaki and low groan from Matsukawa. Even the flaming red on Iwaizumi's cheeks - he hadn't known they were going to write a fucking _love letter_ \- went unnoticed. 

That same afternoon, as they were walking to practice sans Oikawa who was running late with a meeting with his academic advisor, the two had rounded on Iwaizumi, grim expressions startling him.

"We literally cannot be more obvious, what is wrong with Oikawa? Like, what the fuck. I-" Matsukawa trailed off, eyes becoming vacant. Iwaizumi was concerned.

"No for real man, what more do we have to do? We wrote a goddamn love letter" ("a beautiful one" Matsukawa had returned to Earth and was now looking miffed) "and practically shoved you guys into seven minutes in heaven like sixteen thousand times." Hanamaki practically cried. Iwaizumi was definitely concerned. 

"Look guys, I appreciate it, as invasive as it was. I'm sorry? But I just think this means he really doesn't know or feel the same way. It's fine." He said, patting their shoulders. "Now c'mon, we have practice and I'll be damned if Shittykawa beats us when we have a head start. I'll never live it down."

Squaring his shoulders, Iwaizumi started walking towards the gym again, ignoring his friends' over-exaggerated dismay at his lack of love life and only just resisting the urge to punch them. 

That night, after a gruelling practice - turns out Oikawa _had_ beat them to the gym and his look of glee was only slightly cute to Iwaizumi as he did his three extra laps as a penalty for being late - Iwaizumi settles into bed, phone dangling in his hand as he towel-dries his hair. His shoulders slump as he leans back on the headboard, scrolling mindlessly through social media and willing his mind to tire out so he can sleep. 

The chaotic nature of his best friends is a dynamic he's used to; the schemes, pranks, laughs, and the love. He loves his friends, he's always known that. The love he harbours for Oikawa is far different than the love for Matsukawa and Hanamaki. He knows that too. He wonders if it's the same for Oikawa. 

A familiar ringtone blares out, snapping him from his thoughts. Ah, of course. Who else would set their text alert to _Constellation_? 

_Fucking Tooru_ , he thinks. Then, _woah - that's new._ Tooru is a nice name, he supposes. Nothing wrong with saying it in his head because who would ever find out?

**11:37 P.M.**

**oinkawa:** hey iwachan

 **oinkawa:** iwachaaaaaaaaaaan

 **oinkawa:** theres no way ur asleep its barely midnight

 **oinkawa:** if ur asleep makki was right you really are a grandpa

 **oinkawa:** IWACHAN

 **oinkawa:** I CAN SEE YOU READING THESE

 **oinkawa:** ANSWER ME PLS

 **oinkawa:** anyways

 **oinkawa:** currently having a crisis

 **oinkawa:** will u come with me to my academic meeting sensei scares me i hate it here

 **oinkawa:** i'm too sexy to take remedial maths but he's making me because i missed the last test

 **oinkawa:** i want to argue but i need moral support

 **oinkawa:** that's u

 **oinkawa:** fine i'll let u sleep

 **oinkawa:** i'll ask u again in the morning

 **oinkawa:** goodnight <3

Iwaizumi takes a deep breath at the heart emoji and then sets his phone face down on the beside table, pulls a pillow over his face and screams into it until he falls asleep.

At three in the morning, his phone rings out again. Jolting awake, he fumbles in the dark for the device and nearly falls off his bed. As he reaches over to press ignore, the contact name flashes before his eyes and he grumbles some choice words at which his mother would have gasped audibly had she heard. But she's not here so he can curse Oikawa to the heavens if he so pleases and so he does.

He figures he should have known; there's only one person who would dare call him at this hour and risk waking The Beast, as the underclassman know Iwaizumi following an ill-timed prank earlier this year at a training camp. But Iwaizumi is a weak, weak man. So he answers the call.

The first thing he hears is Oikawa's tinny voice greeting him on the other end, chastising him for waiting too long to answer, tone far too cheery for three in the morning.

"I have something to tell you." He chirps, oblivious to the murder Iwaizumi is planning in his head, unresolved romantic tension be damned.

"What the hell could possibly be so important that you need to call me at three in the morning to tell me? You already spammed my phone with like, a hundred texts earlier. What else could you possibly have to say?" Oops. He really meant to ask nicely. He supposes The Beast may be an adequate title.

"Please, Iwa-chan?"

"No."

"Please?" Oikawa is whining now, and Iwaizumi can feel a headache coming on.

"I said no, Shittykawa. Whatever it is can wait until some time that isn't ass o'clock in the morning."

"Okay wait." Oikawa takes a deep breath. "I - I think I'm in love with you?"

Two things happen simultaneously: one, Iwaizumi actually does fall off his bed and two, Oikawa climbs in through Iwaizumi's window. He crouches down to greet Iwaizumi on the floor.

"Hi, Iwa-chan." His voice is softer than it was on the phone, Iwaizumi realizes, as he tries to process what is going on.

"What the _fuck_ , Oikawa?" Iwaizumi struggles to disentangle himself from the mass of blankets. "Did you just climb through the window? We're on the _second floor_."

Oikawa smiles brightly and sits down beside him. "You always forget that you have a tree beside your window, don't you? Also, you should really lock your window. Someone could break in to your house and steal something." Iwaizumi rolls his eyes, not even bothering to explain the dangers of climbing a tree in the dark, especially with Oikawa's knee. Then, it settles in.

"Wait can we run that back for a second?" Iwaizumi splutters.

"Lock your window?" 

"No, no, no, _before_ that you insufferable -" Iwaizumi sits up and stares at his best friend. 

"Sorry! Yes, okay, um." Oikawa plays with his fingers, suddenly very interested in the loose thread on the edge of Iwaizumi's blanket. "I'm in love with you. I think."

"You think?" The words come out slowly. 

"No, I know! I just don't wanna freak you out." He says, voice small. 

"I think we kinda bypassed that when you climbed through my fucking window at three in the morning." Iwaizumi snorts. And then, easy as can be. "Me too."

"You...too?" Oikawa is looking up now, eyes bright but tentative.

"Yeah, as much as it pains me to admit." Oikawa is glowing now, smile brighter than Iwaizumi has ever seen blooming across his pretty face. 

"Really?" His voice cracks.

"Yeah, of course. You're all I've ever known about love, Tooru." Oikawa's eyes widen hilariously fast, and he grabs a pillow from the bed in order to cover his face.

"Iwa-chan! You can't just go around saying cute things like that so nonchalantly, it's not fair!" His voice is muffled and Iwaizumi stifles a laugh as he pulls Oikawa closer to him.

This was easier than he thought it would be. Maybe he should send the chaos duo an edible arrangement or something. Iwaizumi knows how to admit when he's wrong. 

"I bet you looked really stupid climbing a tree at three in the morning in your alien pyjamas." Iwaizumi snorts as he comes back to himself and takes a look at what Oikawa is wearing.

Oikawa's laugh echoes in the tiny bedroom, and Iwaizumi decides that maybe falling in love with his best friend wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"All in the name of love, Iwa-chan."

"Hajime." 

"...All in the name of love, Hajime." His cheeks are red and Iwaizumi has an sudden urge to touch them to see if they're as warm as they look. So he does.

"Shut up, Tooru." Oikawa's cheeks are warm and soft as he leans into the touch. 

(When they walk down the stairs in the morning hand in hand, Iwaizumi's mom tries to act surprised.)

**Author's Note:**

> oh my god this is so much better than my first version of this story it's crazy what a few (5) years and sudden self-confidence can do


End file.
